Call Me Lucky

I've been, uh, disgustingly lucky lately.
My mailbox runneth over with good things.
The latest is a package from The Umbrella Lady, Kathy, over at Quilts Seam Just Right. You can see all the goodies in the photo: that is a hand-quilted "mugrug" and a coffee cozy, done by Kathy herself; a Tim Horton's gift card; and two pairs of stained glass earrings made by Manitoba artist Jeannine Elder. One pair was supposed to go to second prize winner Barb (Bad Tempered Zombie) but, "Barb asked me to give you her earrings because her holes grew in! Lucky you!"
See? Told you I was lucky.
I didn't know that zombies had holes grow in. Good to know, you know, in case I ever become one.
The quilted mugrug, which is far too pretty to ever set a coffee cup on (I think I'll frame it), has "Cabin Fever 2011" stitched on it. Why? Because Kathy was the host of the Cabin Fever 2011 Short Story Competition. Which, ahem, I, ahem, won. If you're inclined to read my short-short take on the cabin fever theme, check it out here.
Other prize winners included Barb, of course. You can read her poem here. And the lovely and talented Laurita Miller of Newfoundland. You can read her story here.
I wore the blue earrings to work today and, I must say, they looked particularly jaunty. I had many compliments on them.
Thank you very much, Kathy! I love all of it! Big hugs to you in Manitoba.

That's not all, though.
In the last couple of months I have won a book from Michael Solender. Topograph is a collection of literary fiction, nonfiction and poetry from 31 contemporary authors, including my friend Michael who wrote a fascinating dissection of his own relationship with faith and religion. I haven't read the entire book yet, I confess, only because I've been so busy. But as soon as it arrived I tore into it to read Michael's essay and it was fantastic! If you'd like to read more of Michael, he blogs daily at The Not.

A while back I won a contest over at From the Inside ... Out, better known as Kathrynville. Need a laugh? Go see what Kathryn's up to. She's full of angst and humour and crazy conversations and I love her so. I either got lucky or she felt sorry for me because she sent me a Google mousepad which I use every single day at work. Last I saw, she was angsting over gas prices and her new job. Please, go give this woman a hug, would ya?

The puckish and lovely and talented Corinne O'Flynn, a writer of young adult fiction and a woman who has impeccable taste in cookies, picked me as one of the winners in her bloggy giveaway. As well as a book called The Replacement by Brenna Yovanoff, Corinne sent me a box of Girl Guide Cookies – Samoas! They don't make Samoas Girl Guide Cookies in Canada. We only get thin mints and the traditional brown and whites. So, even though it's highly illegal to send food over the border, Corinne smuggled me some Samoas. Those pesky border dogs must have had snotty noses because they didn't slow down the order one bit.
The book, sad to say, is still sitting waiting to be read. But the cookies were devoured mostly in the parking lot outside the post office. I had to eat them quick before the border cops nabbed me. You can't catch me now, coppers!
Corinne blogs here and you really should check her out.
You, too, might get cookies.

By the way, I FINALLY went to the post office today and mailed off all the prizes for my Guess The Damned Door Contest. Harry Sanderford, PJ Kaiser, Laura Eno, Jon Strother and Umbrella Lady Kathy will have cool things in their own mailboxes as soon as Snail Mail sees fit to get it there.
Don't hold your breath, people. I was cheap and paid for the least expensive postage option AND IT WAS STILL CRAZY EXPENSIVE. Gak!
It makes me appreciate all the people who have sent me stuff.
As for the prizes? I'm pretty sure they'll be travelling on the backs of mules.